A well fought match ends in a loss

13 members of the KUA Rugby Side travelled to Wilbraham Monson Academy for a match on 4/28. A 15-aside match was changed to a 7’s match, which then morphed into a ten-aside match. Outnumbered two to one, the boys of KUA quipped “Let’s play two”, and that is what they did. A mishap on a kickoff quickly led to a 7-0 WMA lead. As KUA struggled to find footing and options, the home team quickly took a 21-0 lead. Soon, however, the KUA side got into a rhythm. Rucks were being won and the ball was moving down the pitch. Xavier Manning was the first to find the try area, and then followed up with a successful conversion kick. After a series of successful rucks Elliot Gould broke free for a 40-meter try, and Xavier, once again added the conversion. Unfortunately, WMA was able to match these try’s with scores of their own. When the half was called, both sides had played a full 10’s match. With only 3 players available for substitution, options were few for giving players time off the pitch going into the second half. As the half started, the KUA side once again took control of rucks and started multi phase attacks. Weariness set-in, but the fight remained the same. Xavier Manning broke open a 45-meter run for yet another try. After the WMA scrum half stole a pass for a quick 30 meter try, KUA’s Tanner Fisher took a wide pass around the corner for a long run in for a try. Manning added the final conversion of the afternoon. Xavier was stopped just short of another long run for a try late in the match. The final score was WMA 52 KUA 26. Man of the match went to leading scorer Xavier Manning (16 points). Elliot Stevenson and Antonio Suer both played superbly on the day despite playing half of the match in new positions. Trevor Adams controlled lineouts at number two jumper, and was huge in crashes out of rucks. Leading the forwards in contact and tackles were Charles Qian, Keetae Byunn, and Cole Petrescu-Boboc. They, along with Manuel Salamanca and others, can attest to the rigors of tackling a 300-pound prop with a propensity for running the ball. KUA newcomers Tong Pengkaew and Thomas Le joined veterans Hamson Shen and Tanner Fisher as wings/fullbacks and all four were everywhere on the pitch. Each had many solo tackles on breaks to the outside, and all had to adapt quickly to an unexpected kicking game by the WMA fly half. Thomas and freshman Andrew Jones were also called on to play different positions on the afternoon. Thomas moved from scrum half to wing. Andrew went into the match not knowing if he was a forward or a back. He played a very physical style throughout the afternoon at both player positions, and finished the day still not knowing where he stands. He, along with all of his KUA rugby partners, however, just wanted to play the game. The heat of the day, the tired bodies, the number of and size of the opponents meant only that the KUA Rugby side would have to give it their all. Despite the score it was a great day of rugby.